Our seventh MVCfans.com pre-conference season Q&A is with Randy Beard of the Evansville Courier & Press. Randy started covering the Aces beat this summer to go along with his responsibilities as a sports columnist at the Courier & Press. In that role, he kept up with the Aces through columns and occasional game stories/sidebars while also bouncing around to Indiana, Purdue, Louisville, Kentucky and Illinois. This year he will be the main person covering the Aces.

Prior to coming to Evansville in 2007, Randy was the sports editor in Tallahassee,Fla. (1999-2007) and Anderson, S.C. (1988-1999), covering teams in the ACC and SEC.

Question 1.The first thing most MVC fans will notice when Evansville takes thefloor in their respective buildings this year is a slimmed down MartySimmons. How did Coach Simmons accomplish such a dramatic transformationand what reason did he give for losing the weight?

A. He and his wife Angie decided they needed to make a lifestyle change fortheir health. The 6-foot-5 Simmons has lost nearly 150 pounds sincemid-March, also shedding those sweater vests that had been the staple ofhis wardrobe. He now wears suits on the sidelines at games. He and Angiehad guidance from a nutritionist and they increased their exerciseregimen, beginning with walking three miles each morning. Now they jog forthree miles at 4:30 a.m. She also has lost considerable weight.

Question 2.Colt Ryan was the MVC Freshman of the Year last season. How has heimproved heading into his sophomore year and what role does he need toplay for the Aces to be successful? Can he be a leader on this team as asophomore?

A. The 3-pointer will still be Colt's main weapon, but he's also driven thebaseline and the lane much more frequently, trying to get to the basket orthe foul line. He made 19 of 23 free throws in the recent win over NorfolkState, missing a pair of technical free throws that would have given himthe single game school record for most free throws by a player. Simmonswants all his players to attack the basket and Colt has used the shot fakeeffectively to get his defender in the air. He has become a leader, butmainly by example. The vocal leadership role has been shared mostly byseniors Pieter van Tongeren, Clint Hopf and Kavon Lacey and junior DenverHolmes.

Question 3.Evansville was predicted to finish in last place by the MVC media. Youwrote an article recently titled "UE has no plans to live in the cellar". What does Coach Simmons have to do to get this team to exceed expectations and avoid a Thursday night date in St. Louis?

A. The key will be finding scoring balance each night, which they havemanaged to do for most of the nonconference games. Clint Hopf and Pietervan Tongeren have given them solid minutes in a tag-team fashion in thepost, though Simmons would like to see more offensive rebounds from thepair. Kenneth Harris gives them a slasher who can also hit 3-pointers.Denver Holmes also has gotten better at penetrating and pitching, asevident by his assist numbers so far. I think they'll be consistentdefensively and should be able to limit possessions by their opponents byrunning their motion offense. They key will be finding the two or threeother scorers on the nights when Colt Ryan may have trouble shaking hisdefender. My personal feeling is that they have the talent to finish inthe middle of the pack, but they are going to need to get strong minutesoff the bench consistently from players like Jordan Jahr, Ned Cox andLewis Jones

Question 4.In two of the three seasons that Coach Simmons has led the Aces, histeam finished with a 9-21 record. Already this season, the Aces have themost impressive win of any MVC team having won at nationally rankedButler. How many wins do you anticipate for the Aces this year? Is therea number of wins that the athletic department would like to see? WillCoach Simmons feel any pressure from the AD if he fails to achievewhatever internal goals are set?

A. I think they can flirt with finishing .500 on the season, but 15-16 winsis probably maxing it out for this team. As young as they are, that wouldbe a good progress. But if they continue to get to the foul line more than40 times a game, like they have in the last two, they could surprise a fewteams. They're knocking in better than 70 percent of their free throws. Ihaven't talked to AD John Stanley about his expectations, but I don't seeSimmons under that much pressure at this point. He's still got a lot ofsupport because of his past connections to the program as a player anassistant coach. The pressure could start to increase next season,however, if UE's attendance falters in the new arena.

Question 5.In 2011, the city of Evansville will open a beautiful new arena thatwill seat 10,000+ for basketball. How do you expect the new arena willbenefit recruiting and attendance?

A. I think it already has helped recruiting. The impact on attendance isstill the great unknown. Evansville's core fan base is older and stubbornand many aren't pleased to see Roberts Stadium being phased out. They likethe easy access off the Lloyd Expressway and the ample parking around thearena. The downtown arena will rely on municipal parking lot a couple ofblocks away, a few downtown parking garages and street spaces. Next yearwill be more of a challenge because the city has torn down an older hoteland a new hotel is going to be built on the site of a parking garage thatwas connected to that hotel. The hotel may not be finished until 2012, andat that time there will be an underground parking garage under the hotelthat will be available for arena spectators.

Thanks again to Randy for participating in our team by team MVC Q&A. Previous Q&A's can be found in the MVC links section of the forum.

Evansville Purple Aces Q&A w/Randy Beard

The comment about Evansville's fan base was so right on. I fully understand that a fan base is comprised of several elements: students, former graduates, local basketball fans, deep pocketed donors, etc, etc. Our fan base must be 10-15 years older than the other Valley teams, and this is coming from a 54 year old guy who is sensitive about his age (do not call me Gramps!) I love our older fans, but they need to start getting more vocal at games and stop staring down the younger folks who like to raise hell for the Aces.

Several times an older fan stared me down because they thought I was a little bit too animated (I saw nothing wrong with the middle finger extended toward the refereee when he failed to call the Saluki for the foul, kidding).

We need to keep the older crowd. But, they got to get vocal.

There is no difference between basketball and life. Give both your best and ignore the "fans" on the sideline.

Give the older crowd something to get excited about, and they will get plenty vocal. The energy at UE comes from the team to the crowd, not from the crowd to the team. The older crowd won't get vocal for a team that turns the ball over 20 times, and shoots 28%. Give them a team that can beat WSU by 15 here and 5 on the road, and they will get plenty vocal. We might even get more than 50 students to come to the games. The last two games were a good example of the noise that 4,000 (paid attendence, not actual) people can make. One, a last second shot, the other a come back from being seven down at the half. Sounded like 2 or 3 times that amount.

A little off topic, but in my opinion, the new arena won't meet it's potential if the the Aces can't start fielding teams that don't have to play on Thursday in the MVC Tournament. I'm sure that it will be full next year because people will want to be a part of the new experience, but if the Aces don't field competitive teams, attendance will suffer. In short, build them a team, and the fans will come. We may not like it, but that's the way it is, in Southern Indiana.

ACECARD wrote:Give the older crowd something to get excited about, and they will get plenty vocal. The energy at UE comes from the team to the crowd, not from the crowd to the team. The older crowd won't get vocal for a team that turns the ball over 20 times, and shoots 28%. Give them a team that can beat WSU by 15 here and 5 on the road, and they will get plenty vocal. We might even get more than 50 students to come to the games. The last two games were a good example of the noise that 4,000 (paid attendence, not actual) people can make. One, a last second shot, the other a come back from being seven down at the half. Sounded like 2 or 3 times that amount.

A little off topic, but in my opinion, the new arena won't meet it's potential if the the Aces can't start fielding teams that don't have to play on Thursday in the MVC Tournament. I'm sure that it will be full next year because people will want to be a part of the new experience, but if the Aces don't field competitive teams, attendance will suffer. In short, build them a team, and the fans will come. We may not like it, but that's the way it is, in Southern Indiana.

Card, I just checked our stats, we are averaging 15 TOs a game and our shooting percentage is 46%. We turned the ball over 20 times in one game--North Carolina. I still believe too many of our older fans are looking on the floor for Jerry Sloan and what they need to do is embrace the team they have. I already admitted that I am 54. I sense you wore bell bottoms, too. Also, Southern Indiana is no more special than Fresno, St Louis, Spokane, Philadelphia, Houston, Des Moines, Canada, or Venezuela: There is good basketball everywhere and knowledgeable fans everywhere.

Good to meet you

There is no difference between basketball and life. Give both your best and ignore the "fans" on the sideline.

ACECARD wrote:Give them a team that can beat WSU by 15 here and 5 on the road, and they will get plenty vocal.

Wow. There's a fan any program would be just DYING to have on board.

Beat WSU by 15 at home and 5 on the road....so you'll get excited when Evansville is a top 15 type team?

Don't buy any green bananas, pops. And as far as expectations, maybe you should look inward for a change, and you might see part of the problem.

Welcome to my world. When Ace Kid was playing I would go to Evansville to my favorite donut and coffee shop wearing my Aces gear. I would sit with the oldtimers, and I say that affectionately, and we would talk Aces basketball. No, not current Aces basketball..............the College Division days. I did my best to steer the conversation about the current team, but to no avail. Again, I love our fans, but sometimes the older fans are so stuck on the good ole days, that they have unrealistic expectations:

If we measure success by beating WSU by 15 and in their house by 5, than we have a problem. We need to first worry about fielding a competitive team for the 4-7 spots and then we can start thinking about the upper third.

Wu, I hope "Pops" is a term of affection as opposed to a term of derision. Since becoming a Grandfather I am sensitive to comments about older folks.

There is no difference between basketball and life. Give both your best and ignore the "fans" on the sideline.

Ace Dad wrote:Original response to Ace Card erased because Ace Dad does not want to be banished from MVCFANs.

Dad, would sure loved to have seen the post that would have gotten you thrown off the forum. I don't think that my opinion that the Aces are not going to fill the Stadium until they start winning games in the MVC, and finishing last, and being picked to finish last, should raise that kind of ire. No, so far this season, the Aces are shooting more than 28%, and committing less than 20 turnovers per game. I have seen more than my share of DIV I games were they did not. Let's see how many wins that leads to.

Since I don't want you to get thrown off the forum on my account I will only post glowing reports on the Aces play from here on out.

ACECARD wrote:Give them a team that can beat WSU by 15 here and 5 on the road, and they will get plenty vocal.

Wow. There's a fan any program would be just DYING to have on board.

Beat WSU by 15 at home and 5 on the road....so you'll get excited when Evansville is a top 15 type team?

Don't buy any green bananas, pops. And as far as expectations, maybe you should look inward for a change, and you might see part of the problem.

Beating WSU by 15 at home, and 5 on the road wouldn't get them anywhere near the top 15. Probably wouldn't get them in the top 50. And let's see what a great fan you are, when your team plays on Thursday for 10 straight years.

ACECARD wrote:Give them a team that can beat WSU by 15 here and 5 on the road, and they will get plenty vocal.

Wow. There's a fan any program would be just DYING to have on board.

Beat WSU by 15 at home and 5 on the road....so you'll get excited when Evansville is a top 15 type team?

Don't buy any green bananas, pops. And as far as expectations, maybe you should look inward for a change, and you might see part of the problem.

Beating WSU by 15 at home, and 5 on the road wouldn't get them anywhere near the top 15. Probably wouldn't get them in the top 50. And let's see what a great fan you are, when your team plays on Thursday for 10 straight years.

#7 in the country beat us by 14 at home, and we haven't lost a regular season home game in almost two years.

ACECARD wrote:Beating WSU by 15 at home, and 5 on the road wouldn't get them anywhere near the top 15. Probably wouldn't get them in the top 50. And let's see what a great fan you are, when your team plays on Thursday for 10 straight years.

1)You sure it wouldn't?

2)My team actually has come pretty close to that before.....I was still a great fan and so were most of the rest of Shocker Nation. Sure, there are some fair weathered fans, everyone has them, but we're fine, thanks for asking.

3)And if that actually happened today, I can promise you there would be a bloodletting the likes of which would make your grandchildren cry. We wouldn't accept it without a fight...it is embarrassing to see a program like UNI lead this conference.

3)That's life as a Division 1 program that has higher aspirations than being competitive for the 7th place and happy to cash your share of what the best teams in the conference can bring home. Programs like WSU that have fans that pony up deserve to have some successes.